Sony to cut 20,000 jobs worldwide as profits slump

By Alun Williams

Posted on 28 Oct 2003 at 12:34

The BBC reports that Sony is planning to cut 20,000 jobs worldwide, up to 13 per cent of its workforce.

No detailed breakdown on the anticipated job cuts has yet been revealed, but the majority are expected to be outside Japan. The redundancies will follow on from disappointing recent financial results - the Japanese electronics giant has been struggling in 2003 to retain the profit margins of old.

According to the Today radio programme, one reason for Sony's recent discomfiture is that they have been wrong-footed over the popularity of LCD TVs, having backed plasma screens. The company has now announced a joint venture with Samsung to produce flat-screen televisions.

The plans are part of a restructuring initiative dubbed 'Transformation 60', which the company describes as 'a series of fundamental reforms to the Sony Group'.

These are expected to be completed by 2006 and include greater convergence of its entertainment and electronics businesses.

Sony has emphasised that it sees the home and mobile electronics sectors, and the semiconductor technology that supports them, as core sectors - Sony promises to 'strengthen its technological base'.

In an official statement, the company says that by integrating its assets in pictures, music and games, 'the linkages with electronics will be strengthened as Sony aims to become a global media content company'.